HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's basketball team returned from a three-week break to face a Division I opponent in Sam Houston State Tuesday night in Huntsville. The Cu fell behind early and could not battle back in a 101-59 loss. The Bearcats improve to 6-5 on the season with the victory. The game does not count in UMHB's season record since the Cru counted it as an exhibition contest.
 
The Cru showed a little rust in the early going, turning the ball over on six of its first seven possessions. Sam Houston scored the first seven points of the game and built a double-digit lead at 12-2 a little over four minutes into the game. The lead would grow to as many as 24 points in the opening ten minutes as UMHB looked for a spark to get back into the game. Carson Hammond wrapped five points around a Bearcat free throw to pull the Cru to within 34-14. SHSU answered with a 7-0 run before Bryson Laird hit a three-pointer for UMHB. The Cru would put together a 6-0 run of its own to tighten it up a little, but the Bearcats pulled away in the final minutes of the opening half for a 57-29 lead at the break. UMHB was pressured into 17 turnovers in the first half, leading to 27 Sam Houston points.
 
The Cru battled to keep it close in the second half. Kyle Wright buried two free throws to make it a 30-point game in the early going, but the Bearcats put together another quick 6-0 run and never looked back. UMHB would close to within 37 points on a couple of occasions midway through the half before Sam Houston State opened it up down the stretch for the win.
 
Wright and Darius Musa led the Cru with ten points apiece. Kobe Ollison added nine points and Aedan Welch scored eight. Hammond pulled down a team-best eight rebounds as UMHB out rebounded the Bearcats 37-35 on the night. The Cru shot 42 percent from the field as a team, but went just 4-13 from beyond the arc and committed 25 turnovers, which SHSU converted into 37 points.
Javion May led Sam Houston State with 18 points on 7-8 shooting. Jarren Cook added 16 points, Bryce Monroe chipped 15 and Zach Nutall scored 14 as five total players reached double figures for the Bearcats. Sam Houston State shot 54 percent from the floor as a team and hit 11-27 from beyond the arc.
 
The UMHB men will return to action with a 5 pm tip-off at LeTourneau University in Longview on Thursday. The Cru will close out its road trip with a 3 pm start at East Texas Baptist Saturday in Marshall. UMHB will then open American Southwest Conference play on the road at UT Dallas on January 7^th.